I live with a degenerative and progressive brain condition called an Arnold Chiari Malformation. My Thursday Thirteen for today was inspired by Thom, who didn't realize that I had had brain surgery and dug around here to find out why. Here's a list of 13 facts about ACM.

1. Arnold Chiari Malformation is the medical name for what I like to call a brain fart. In a nutshell, people who have ACM have brains that are too big to fit properly inside their skulls. Although I like to think this is just because we're so doggone smart, medical evidence does not support this hypothesis. Because the brain doesn't fit like it should, the tonsils (foramen magnum) hangs down, outside the cavity of the skull, and into the spinal canal.
2. ACM is a real pain in the butt. . .er, head! The spinal canal is made just big enough to hold the spinal cord so when a protruding piece of brain scoots down in there, life can get really complicated. Things like killer headaches, dizziness, nausea, vertigo, tingling sensations, difficulty swallowing, double vision, difficulty hearing, balance issues, and insomnia are just a few of the symptoms that ACM triggers and that ACM patients deal with on a daily basis.
   
3. Size does not matter with ACM. Some people have very small protrusions and suffer considerable pain, while others may have a larger protrusion and never have a symptom. In my case, a chunk measuring 8 mm -- not really big, but definitely not small -- sits in my spinal canal. If it hadn't been for the fact that I suddenly began having headaches so painful that it hurt to breathe, I would have never known that I had a problem.
   
4. What comes out, can't go back in. If the brain breaks free of the dura mater, the protective membrane that surrounds it, it can never be put back inside. The solution to this problem is surgery. To allieviate the pressure that this piece of brain puts on the spinal cord, decompression surgery, typically composed of three parts (craniectomy, laminectomy, and duraplasty), is the most widely recognized treatment.
   
5. If undiagnosed and treated, ACM can cause paralysis or death. Dr. G, Medical Examiner, part of the Discovery Health Network's programming, had an episode about a young man whose ACM was undiagnosed and who died because the brain protrusion pinched his spinal cord.
   
6. No known cause or cure. Although many physicians believe that ACM is a hereditory problem, there is no definitive proof of it. Nobody in my family has the problem except me, but Julie Carter, a Chiari activist, and all three of her daughters have it. If you're a fan of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, you might be familiar with the Carter Family; they received a home makeover from ABC a couple of years ago.
   
7. Classified as a rare disorder by the Office of Rare Diseases (ORD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). What this means is that ACM affects less than 200,000 people in the U.S. population. Ok, so this just means that I'm special -- I can live with that!
8. I'm a Zipperhead! What's a Zipperhead, you want to know? That's the nickname that Chiari patients call a decompressed Chiarian. After the surgery, the back of your head looks like its been closed with a zipper, and that's where the nickname comes from.
   
9. Getting a diagnosis is not easy. Because ACM triggers so many different and seemingly unrelated symptoms, most ACM patients don't get the proper diagnosis for many years. This was my case. The problem was clearly present in my early teens, but I was shuffled back and forth from the ENT to the family doctor to a gastroenterologist. Back in those days, the MRI was not available and since it is the now the way that most people are diagnosed, I can't blame any of the doctors who treated my symptoms without getting to their root cause. I just had to wait until technology caught up with them.
10. Decompression surgery can alleviate some of the symptoms, but it doesn't solve the problem. Because of #4, surgery doesn't solve the problem; however, it did help to control the symptoms better. After I had surgery, the headaches occurred less frequently, which is good. I still have problems with double-vision, my balance is so bad that my neurologist joked how it's a good thing that I don't drink because I would never pass the standard police drunk test (heel-to-toe walking a straight line), my depth perception is so off that I can't see well enough to walk down a flight of stairs or even a curb without falling, and I have complex-partial seizures that come from the right parietal lobe of my brain. The remaining symptoms may sound bad, but I manage to live a relatively "normal" life with them.
    
11. ACM is more common in women than in men. I like to think that this is just because we're naturally smarter, so our brains are naturally bigger! It's not likely that the medical community supports my findings, though.
    
12. Roseanne Cash, daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash, is also a Zipperhead. She had decompression surgery in December of 2007. Maybe it was ACM that was causing her "Seven Year Ache." Ok, that was a very bad joke!
    
13. ACM is an invisible illness. Because people can't see the piece of brain that hangs out in the spinal canal, they often misjudge a patient's reaction to the symptoms. Our society is trained to look for visible symptoms of an illness -- watery eyes and sneezing for allergies, red bumps for chicken pox, coughing and a stuffy nose for a cold, etc. -- and when none are present, judgment of the patients who suffer from invisible illnesses tends to be rather harsh. Perhaps because my invisible illness involves The Brain, that most sacred of internal organs (muscle just doesn't sound as dramatic here, sorry), I am treated far more kindly than someone who has Lupus, for example. This is just plain wrong!

I hope that my list has enlightened your world. If you want to know more about ACM, my symptoms, or decompression surgery, there are lots of links in my sidebar.

If you'd like to join in on the Thursday Thirteen fun, click here.

I don't recall having talked about my addiction to American Idol before, but I confess -- I am totally hooked! It's my niece's fault, for it was she who got me started watching it in the second season. It wasn't until the season that Carrie Underwood was on, though, that I began taking the show seriously. From that point forward, it was inevitable that I would plan my life around Tuesday and Wednesday nights, LOL!

The 2009 season is now officially over and thanks to the nifty international satellite, I was able to watch the show live from the east coast. Although my personal favorite, Danny Gorkey (I don't know if that's how his name is spelled or not) was not in the running, I am thrilled with the winning choice!

And now I'm off to finish grading research papers, bask in the glory of having supported a winner, and the gradual onset of the "When does the next season of Idol start?" blues.

As long as people have been around, they have tried to communicate with each other. As a means of getting the message across as clearly as possible, idioms and sayings have found their way into our language. Now, because "a picture paints a thousand words", I thought it would be nice to make this a new photo challenge. The idea is to choose an idiom, or a saying, ( even slang is allowed) and illustrate it with a picture. Each week we'll co ver two letters of the alphabet, okay? To play along, click here.

Yesterday is one for the history book of my life. Not quite "a date that will live in infamy," my 50th birthday was memorable nonetheless.

Wow -- I am now 1/2 a century old! That sounds so much more ominous than just plain old 50, doesn't it? I now qualify to receive junk mail from the AARP. A quick visit to their website revealed to me that by virtue of having completed 50 years of life, I can still be a productive member of society by, among other things, volunteering to help renovate my neighborhood. Now that sounds all nice and good; however, if I help to renovate my neighborhood, who the heck will renovate my house? I also learned that I'm now old enough to become an advocate for the aging and aged, but I'm not quite old enough to qualify for Senior Citizens' discounts at restaurants. That hardly seems fair!

In addition to qualifiying for membership in the AARP, I am now officially eligible for the retirement I've been planning for the past year. I'm still not sure how to feel about retiring at such a young -- yes, I said young! -- age. Retirement shouldn't happen for another fifteen years, under normal circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances; they are times more suited to a Charles Dickens novel:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."
--Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Now there is something to do during my retirement! I would love to reread the entire body of Charles Dickens' work. If I won't be teaching literature, I can at least return to reading it just for the pure pleasure it provides. Retirement is sounding better with every sentence!

Retirement will mean no more grading stress or irritation when students don't get their work done on time. But it will also mean not sharing semesters with them, discovering their composition strengths and showing them to overcome their weaknesses. It means no more animated discussions about censorship in America's classrooms and textbooks or introducing a new crop of future teachers to the possibilities of parental challenges to books that they know, love, and might want to share with their own students. It means no more expressions of appreciation like the wonderful gift that my students gave me yesterday. We took the photo last week at the urging of one of the girls who is actually from Texas but attending the university in California because her husband is in the military and stationed here. She scrapbooks and really wanted some photos of our class to preserve on the pages of one of those gorgeous scrapbooks that have become so popular in recent years. I asked her to share the photos with me so that I could blog them, but the photos never appeared in my email box. I even included a friendly reminder when I returned her graded research paper over the weekend. But still no photos. Now I know why!

Colorful expressions of good wishes for my retirement, thanks for a great semester, and accolades for my teaching style surround the smiling faces of me and my students. And to think that just last week I was ticked off at them all I could have, as my grandfather used to say, spit wooden nickels! It's little things like this that make teaching the most noble and fulfilling career known to humanity.

I now have a beautiful and thoughtful reminder of my last semester of teaching hanging on the wall just above my computer, where I can steal a quick glance whenever I start to feel unfulfilled because I'm not teaching any longer. To those of you who shared the Spring '09 semester with me and read but don't comment here, I want to say thank you once again. Your generous and giving spirits have made my final semester as an educator one of the most memorable of my career. Oh, and before I forget, if any of you are interested in seeing one of my newly acquired documentaries on J.S. Mill's On Liberty, just let me know! (ROFLMAO!!!!!)

Sorry, but I can't leave this post entirely wordless. The tree in this photo grows in the parking lot at the university where I teach. It has fascinated me for many years. I have no idea what kind of tree this is. What I do know is that starting in mid-April, the tree begins to bear its strange "fruit" -- cotton balls the size of cantaloupe. It's truly amazing to see when the tree is in full bloom! Because I had to snap this photo with my iPhone, it was impossible for me to zoom in on the "fruit" itself, but you can see several other cotton balls behind the main image.

Within the past 15 minutes, we've had another two quakes! Nothing big -- just 4.1 and 2.5 within five minutes of one another; however, when I see on the earthquake map the clusters of small quakes that are happening all around what appears to me to be San Andreas Fault, my layperson's interpretation is that the pressure that has been building since the last "big one" is being released little by little or that the plates are shifting to the point that they are going to collide in a big way soon. I sure do hope that the first interpretation is the accurate one!

• Today is California's special election for six ballot propositions, each designed to raise taxes enough to help cover the state's current fiscal crisis. I love the Golden State to be sure, but I don't love her politicians enough to help them pay for the mess they've created! So in a few hours, when the polls open, I'll be telling the Governator where he can take those propositions and what he can do with them when he arrives there!

• Happy Anniversary to my dad and stepmom. They got married on my birthday so, he says, my dad won't ever forget their anniversary!
• The second phase of the grading marathon is well underway. My goal is to have graded and returned all of the research papers that I collected on Thursday of last week no later than tomorrow. One class is done, and the other one is in progress. Yeah me!
• I'm keeping an eye on the swarm of earthquakes happening in the South Bay area. Not that I'm worried about the "big" one, but it sure is interesting to see how the quakes correlate to our freaky weather. Judging from the number and strengths of the temblors in the last 48 hours, something big is brewing beneath us.
  
• At the lunch meeting of the Fourth Grade BFFs on Saturday, we were so busy talking and catching up that none of us thought to take a single picture! It wasn't until I got home and Ali asked me to see the pictures, that I realized I had none to show. I tried to schedule a quick meeting to get some photos, but Peggy doesn't seem to be checking her email and neither I or Diana have a phone number to call her.

Happy Tuesday, y'all! If you'd like to join in the fun of random ramblings, just post a few random thoughts on Tuesday. Send me the link to your post by leaving a comment, and I'll add you to the list of Random Ramblers!

You Passed 8th Grade Geography

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

The Bumbles host a movie meme every Monday with a different theme each week. This week's theme just happens to be tear jerkers. What a great one for me to begin participation with -- I am a sucker for tear jerkers! The more tissue I need to get through the film, the higher it ranks on my list. If the movie invokes actual sobs, it's an automatic winner for me. Which movies make you cry? Here's a list of my all-time best, bring a box of tissue and be prepared to turn on the water works films.

• Fried Green Tomatoes: The secret of life is in the sauce, it's in the sauce! More than just a "chick flick," Fried Green Tomatoes is a tale of true friendship, sacrifice, justice, and self-discovery. My favorite part is the parking lot scene:
  
  
  

• Somewhere in Time: This is a full box-er; no matter how many times I watch this movie, I end up a complete blubbering mess! Imagine a love so powerful that it can pull you across the barrier of time and when reality propels you forward to the present and you must leave your true love in the time warp, the grief over your lost love becomes so insurmountable that it kills you. But in the end, in death, time doesn't matter because you find that your true love has waited for you to cross that final barrier. Oh, please -- someone call the wahmbulance for me already!
  
• The Joy Luck Club: "I tell you the story because I was raised the Chinese way. I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people's misery, and to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way. Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl, and I was born to my mother and I was born a girl, all of us like stairs, one step after another, going up, going down, but always going the same way."
• The Bridges of Madison County: To heck with Josey Wales, give me Robert Kincaid any day! I've never been a fan of Clint Eastwood's films, probably because westerns just don't do IT for me, so it was with a great deal of trepidation that I first watched this movie. Another full box-er, The Bridges of Madison County convinced me that the older, the better Mr. Eastwood gets. Heck, he's a downright sexy old man!
• I Remember Mama: If you haven't seen this 1948 gem, you'll want to add it to your Netflix list, trust me. I Remember Mama is a heartwarming story of a Norweigan immigrant family and their struggle to survive in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. Once you've seen it, you'll remember mama, too!
• Charlotte's Web: Who said that animated films can't make you cry? Charlotte's death scene gets me every single time, and I watch this movie at least once a month!





• Last on my list is also my very favorite tear jerker of all time, A Walk to Remember: It's not the death scene or young love that makes me cry in this film like you might expect. Instead, what brings tears to my eyes is the fact that I admire, and I mean genuinely admire, Jamie's character. Despite the merciless teasing and taunting from her classmates, Jamie hangs onto her faith, morals, values, and goodness, all symbolized by the sweater that she always wears. She doesn't give in to the peer pressure to be like the other girls, all of whom are mean spirited; she remains true to herself and because she does, her example, more than her illness and death, changes everyone around her.

Are you ready for some tissue yet?

"Mack the Knife" is a song that I have enjoyed since I was a kid. It wasn't until I was in graduate school, though, that I discovered where the inspiration for the song came from. And putting the lyrics in the perspective of their source sure did help me make sense of the song! So, without further ado, here's "Mack the Knife," the lyrics, and some fun facts about its source. Enjoy!





"Mack the Knife" Lyrics

Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.

Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
Scarlet billows start to spread
Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacHeath, babe
So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.

Now on the sidewalk … uuh, huh … whoo … sunny mornin’ … uuh, huh
Lies a body just oozin' life … eeek!
And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
Could that someone be Mack the Knife?

A-there's a tugboat … huh, huh, huh … down by the river don’tcha know
Where a cement bag’s just a'droopin' on down
Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear
Five'll get ya ten old Macky’s back in town.

Now, d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?

Now … Jenny Diver … ho, ho … yeah … Sukey Tawdry
Ooh … Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town.
Aah … I said Jenny Diver … whoa … Sukey Tawdry
Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
Now that Macky’s back in town …

Look out … old Macky is back!!



"Mack the Knife" Fun Facts

• Mack the Knife is based on Macheath, an unsavory character from John Gay's 1728 work, The Beggar's Opera.
• The Beggar's Opera is a satire of Italian opera, which was popular in the 18th century.
• When it opened on January 29, 1728, the audience wasn't quite sure what to make of The Beggar's Opera. Like good literature, good opera had specific conventions that an audience expected to recognize. And as with good literature, language was one of the most important of those conventions. Until Gay's work, the operatic form had been confined to French, German, or Italian; an opera in English was unheard of. Even more important are the facts that Gay's opera was written for an audience of commoners, encompassed characters from the seedy side of life in London, and incorporated everyday speech instead of elevated language. Up to this point, all the really good operas dealt with heroic or mythic themes and were composed in elevated language meant to appeal to the aristocracy. Gay's work was quite revolutionary!
• In spite of its lack of "proper" form, the audience went wild for The Beggar's Opera thanks to "sparkling dialogue, witty satire, and ingenious ballads set to well-loved familiar tunes" (R Bear). The audience of commoners could relate to the language, characters, and music of Gay's revolutionary opera because it was composed with them in mind.
• Gay composed The Beggar's Opera in response to a to a question that Alexander Pope (who wrote one of my favorite poems, The Rape of the Lock) asked of Jonathan Swift (of Gulliver fame, but equally well known for his satire, A Modest Proposal). The question was, "What think you, of a Newgate pastoral among the thieves and whores there?"
• Macheath, Mack the Knife, is a parody of one of the two most famous criminals in 18th century London, Jack Sheppard (hey, Lost fans -- this name should be familiar to you!).
• The Beggar's Opera ran for a record-breaking 62 consecutive performances after its first opening. In 1920, the opera broke records again with a run of 1,463 performances.

Can you tell that I <3 research? Chalk it up to the fact that I teach writing for a living!

To see more Music Monday posts, go here. For Musical Monday posts, go here.

In the last 15 minutes, we've had 3 earthquakes! The first measured 5.0, the second measured 2.5, and the third came in at 3.1. They are centered in an area of Southern California called the South Bay (Redondo Beach, Long Beach, Torrance, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Lennox, among other small cities). We are about 30 miles away from the epicenters of Lennox and El Segundo, but we sure did feel the first one! Sucker lasted at least 10-15 seconds.

There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on in Southern California tonight! If you're interested, here's a link to the Earthquake List from the government; it's updated regularly.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?

Thankfully we don't have many, but of the bills that we do have to pay, I'd choose the electric bill as the one I hate paying the most.

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?

At home, courtesy of the Amazing Egyptian Dude and his excellent culinary skills.

3. How many colleges did you attend?

3

4. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?

Ummm...it's a little after 3 a.m., so it's still the night clothes for me.

5. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?

I don't use an alarm because The Brain wakes me up 2 or 3 hours after I fall asleep anyway.

6. Last thought before going to sleep last night?

How many more essays do I have to grade?

7. What do you miss being a child?

I had an amazing childhood! The thing I miss most about being a child is having my mom.

8. What errand/chore do you despise?

Without a doubt, laundry! I swear that laundry is the curse of my life.

9. Have you found real love yet?

Yep, see #2.

10. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart?

I am not a shopping kind of person at all, so if I go to Wal-Mart at all, it's because I need something. The answer then would be that I get what I need.

11. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?

Not at all. Rituals are the glue that bind societies together.

12. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?

This is a tough one because I don't know how to choose between Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Christopher Marlowe.

13. Ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?

Never used a fire extinguisher for any purpose.

14. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?

Anywhere north of San Francisco.

15. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?

Career -- I'm always ready to learn something new.

16. Do you have a “go to” person?

I have two: the Amazing Egyptian Dude and Aunt Nola.

17. Are you where you want to be in life?

I'm fine with my life.

18. Over the years, what about you do you think has changed the most?

My willingness to make excuses for people has changed more than anything else about me. The older I get, the less likely I am to make or accept an excuse for things like rude behavior, mistreatment of others, disrespect, and willing ignorance.

19. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life?

The best? No. But they were lots of fun!

20. Are there times you still feel like a kid?

Sure! I'm often filled with the same sense of wonder that I had a as a kid; I still have the love of learning that I had as a kid.

21. Where was the hang out spot when you were a teenager?

I don't know of one. Most of the time, my friends and I hung out at one another's houses.

22. Who do you think impacted your life the most?

Without a second thought, it was my mother. From her, I learned how to share even when you don't have much yourself; that having "things" may bring comfort, but "things" don't guarantee happiness; that the best quality a person can have is a willingness to help others without ever expecting anything in return; and that using foul language (curse words) is a public display of ignorance, for swearing, my mom used to say, tells the world that your vocabulary is too limited to find a better word to use. Truly smart people, according to my mom, can convey their feelings with words far more powerful than the ones that come from the gutter.

23. Was there a teacher or authority figure that stood out for you?

Mrs. Wilson, a high school English teacher. Most of the students in her classes hated Mrs. Wilson. She was very near retirement when I had her the first time as a sophomore, and even closer when I had her again as a senior. She commanded respect, demanded our best, and challenged us to beat our own expectations.

24. Do you tell stories that start with “when I was your age”?

I do now! I used to love hearing my grandparents and parents talking about the "good old days," and now I love to do the talking. The major difference, though, is that I almost always start with "I remember when. . ."

25. What is the scariest thing that has happened to you as an adult?

Having brain surgery.

26. What advice would you give to someone about to get married?

Learn to choose your battles because some things really aren't worth fighting for, over, or about in the long run.

27. What advice would you give someone starting their first job?

Show up on time and ready to work as soon as you step foot in the door.

28. If you could go back and change one thing you did, what would it be?

I believe that there's something to be learned from everything we do. That which we consider a mistake when it happens offers us the opportunity to learn what made it a mistake so that we can avoid the experience a second time. I like to learn, so I wouldn't change anything.

29. If you could go back and change one thing someone else did, what would it be?

See #28.


More entries and the rules for playing along are available here.

What began as a day filled with the promise of catching up and all around fun ultimately became one heck of an adventure! Why? Because Carleen was in the driver's seat!

Back in early April, I wrote about how my fourth grade BFF, Peggy, had found me after thirty years of no contact. Reconnecting with her was exciting and when she told me that she would be returning to California for a week in May, we planned a get together with Diana, the BFF who joined us in sixth grade. Today was that meeting.

Since we would be in cities some 30-40 miles apart from one another, I suggested that we meet at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant that I know of in a city that, while close to Diana, would be a fairly equal distance for Peggy and me. Wanting to make things as easy for Peggy as possible because she had just traveled from Europe to the US, Diana found the same restaurant in the city where Peggy would be staying. It was a date. We planned to meet at 1:00 PM for lunch today.

I am terrible at driving to unfamiliar locations and always end up lost in some podunk place miles away from where I ought to be, so I mapped out the directions ahead of time and sent them to my iPhone. I left home with plenty of time to fill the car with gas and still arrive on time. Lucky for me, the first part of the journey was the same route I take to get to the university. No problem so far.

The trip soon turned into a comedy of errors, however. With four freeway changes between me and my destination, I should have known that an adventure was in the making as soon as I got behind the wheel. I managed the first freeway change without incident. Yeah me! But a short distance later, an accident caused traffic to be diverted to the two left lanes only and without me realizing it, I missed the off ramp to the next freeway. Oblivious, I drove merrily along scouting for the freeway and making mental notes to be sure that come fire season, I am as far away from this part of the county as possible because the drought has made it a virtual tinderbox. Before I knew it, I was in Fontana, some 30 miles away from where I needed to be and nowhere near the freeway I needed to catch!

To see how far out of the way I had gone, look at the map below. I am located at the bottom of the map, at POINT A. I needed to get to POINT B, labeled PEGGY. I ended up at the point on the right side of the map where the green box is located at the top. Once I realized that I was going in the wrong direction, I got off the freeway, called Diana and left her a message , then got back on the freeway headed in the right direction this time.

Going back in the right direction was no problem, and I managed to follow the route all the way to the point of getting off the freeway on the correct exit. But from this point forward, things got downright ugly! I traveled up and down the right street but couldn't find the next one -- the street that would take me to the restaurant. When I finally did find it, I ended up at the backside of some mall, driving through the parking lot. At this point, I was nearly an hour late!

Diana finally heard my message. She and Peggy had been waiting patiently at the restaurant. Peggy knew where I was and went outside so that I could see where to turn. Well, I saw Peggy alright -- even honked at and waved to her -- but missed the turn for the entrance to the restaurant. Here we go again, back to driving in circles! Finally, a little more than one hour late, I pulled into the parking lot.

My life, I tell you, never has a dull moment!

As I quickly approach the 1/2 century mark, I thought it would be fun to see what was happening in 1959, the year I was born. Here's my list of 13 interesting facts from 1959. (I'm a bit ahead of schedule, but tomorrow is my last teaching day for the semester -- for my career! -- and I have some work to get done this evening.)



#1 Barbie is "born." Not only did my mother buy me a Barbie that looked just like the one in the photo, but she also sewed and knitted an entire wardrobe for her! Even more cool is that Mattel, the company that manufactures Barbie, was located in my hometown (also the hometown of the Wilson brothers of the Beach Boys fame). As kids, my sisters and I toured the factory many times and were given the chance to be toy testers for the company.

#2 The U.S. grows by two. Alaska and Hawaii join the Union as the 49th and 50th states respectively. Alaska became #49 on January 3rd, and Hawaii took the 50th spot on August 21st. Just think of the economic boom this provided to flag manufacturers!

#3 Ronald Reagan is a Democrat. Even more interesting to the younger folks who know him only as a Republican is the fact that as part of his deal with General Electric, the sponsor of the show he hosted on television, Reagan was required to tour GE plants and give speeches. Thus in 1959, former President Reagan delivered more than 200 speeches as a "Democrat for Nixon." He switched his party affiliation in 1962, after GE fired him for making "controversial" speeches.

#4 Malcolm Little is born on May 19. In addition to sharing a birthday with Malcolm X, as he was later known, Nicole Brown Simpson was also born on May 19. Yikes -- they were both murdered! I also share my birthday with Pete Townshend, Jimmy Hoffa, Nora Ephron, Nancy Kwan (I love Flower Drum Song, by the way!), Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, Nellie Melba (of the peach dessert fame), and Johns Hopkins (of university and hospital fame).

As part of the circle of life, there were also some famous deaths on my birthday: Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Ogden Nash, Nathaniel Hawthorne (my very favorite American author), and Anne Boelyn.

#5 Oklahoma ends Prohibition! The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbidding the manufacture, sale, transport, and consumption of alcohol, began as "The Noble Experiment" 0n January 16, 1920 (it passed Congress in December 1917 and took a while to get the 2/3 majority ratification by the States to actually pass), despite Woodrow Wilson's presidential veto. The National Prohibition Act was seen as the answer to the issues of domestic violence, crime, and poverty, which the Temperance Movement argued were destroying the fabric of American society. Ironically, instead of curing the social ills that led to its passage, the Eighteenth Amendment contributed to an alarming increase in gang activities by creating a violent but extremely profitable black market for booze. Despite the increased crime rate across the country, it took 13 years before the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth. Ok, but that was 1933, so what happened to Oklahoma?

The Twenty-first Amendment allows individual states to control the sale of alcohol. That's why many Southern states (there was an incredibly strong Temperance Movement in the South) have "dry" cities and/or counties wherein alcohol cannot be sold. Oklahoma finally ended 51 years of Prohibition in 1959, but Mississippi didn't end it until 1966.

#6 Sexy Siren Steals Singing Sweetheart's Spouse! On May 12, 1959, Elizabeth Taylor married Eddie Fisher. Fine, so what? It's just another marriage made in Hollywood Heaven, right? Not on your life! Taylor, the sultry siren, stole her man from America's singing (in the rain) sweetheart, Debbie Reynolds. According to Hollywood gossip rags, the death of Mike Todd, best friend to Fisher and husband to Taylor, hit Elizabeth quite hard. Like any best friend would do, Eddie Fisher consoled the grieving widow. Consolation soon became consummation, ending the Fisher-Reynolds union and creating the Fisher-Taylor nuptials in Las Vegas.

#7 A 7.1 earthquake shakes Yellowstone. Much has been made recently about the geothermal nature of Yellowstone National Park and the likelihood of a Super Volcano erupting there in the not so distant future. If the Hebgen Lake earthquake of August 17, 1959 is an indicator of what will herald this cataclysmic event, then I say head for the hills! No, wait, mountains are created by volcanoes and earthquakes -- head for the desert instead. Oops, forget that advice -- America's largest desert is full of earthquake faults! What the heck, hang around and see if Yellowstone gets another land feature like Quake Lake.

#8 Gidget



In addition to Gidget, some of my favorite movies were released in 1959: Pillow Talk, The Shaggy Dog, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Ben Hur, Sleeping Beauty, and Some Like It Hot

#9 Bozo the Clown Premiers on TV. The very first Bozo the Clown show aired on KTLA (channel 5), a local Los Angeles station on January 5, 1959. Along with Captain Kangaroo, Romper Room and Sheriff John, Bozo was an integral part of my early childhood. Did you know that Bozo actually began as a character in a children's book that its creator, Alan Livingston, marketed and sold to Capitol Records in 1946? The Bozo books were immensely popular and in 1949, Livingston began marketing the character for use in product endorsements and programming on independent television stations. Again, Los Angeles carried the torch with the very first televised appearance of Bozo the Clown on KTTV (channel 11, currently the FOX Network). In 1956, Larry Harmon, one of the actors who played the role of Bozo, bought the rights to the character, redesigned the wig and costume so that it more closely resembled the Bozo of the books, developed his own production company, and sold franchises of the character to television stations around the country. The rest, as they say, is children's television history.

#10 Declaration of the Rights of a Child. On November 20, 1959, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care" and to protect those special needs, declared some universal rights for all children. Among them are (a) the right to a name and a nationality, (b) opportunities to aid in development, (c) free education (through elementary school at the very least), (d) adequate nutrition, housing, recreation, and medical services, (e) protection against neglect, cruelty, and exploitation, and (f) love and understanding. Read the entire document here.

#11 Old Blue Eyes wins his first Grammy Award. The Best Album winner at the 1959 Grammy Awards was none other than Frank Sinatra for Come Dance With Me. Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife" won for Best Record.

#12 Motown record label is founded in Detroit, Michigan. Remember Debbie Reynolds from #6? Well, did you know that Berry Gordy, Motown's founder, originally wanted to call the record label "Tammy" after the famous Debbie Reynolds song from the movie Tammy and the Bachelor?

#13 He's in the Army now. Who? Why, only the most popular heartthrob of all time, Elvis Presley! Interestingly, although he was drafted in 1958, Elvis was still a chart-topper that year with songs like "Don't," "King Creole, " "A Fool Such as I," and "Hard Headed Woman." And when he was discharged in 1960, Elvis returned to the top of the charts with "Are You Lonesome Tonight?," "It's Now or Never," and "Stuck on You" among others.

But 1959 was a completely "dead" year for the King in terms of music. Kinda makes me think of Don McLean's lyrics about "the day the music died."


Take a look at other Thursday Thirteen entries here.

I think I must be the queen of practical gifts. I would much rather receive a gift that I know I will use than one that looks pretty but serves no practical purpose. Culturally, the Amazing Egyptian Dude thinks that he should buy me gold jewelry for every occasion, but I'm not into jewelry and hardly ever wear anything more than my wedding ring. It took about fifteen years to convince him that instead of a necklace or bracelet, I would much rather have some books, a pair of comfy slippers, or some nice smelling bath & body products. To him, these mundane and everyday items aren't gifts; to me, they are the perfect gifts.

Finally, I decided to tell him what gift I wanted and where to get it. For example, last year he got me (ahem) an awesome speaker dock for my iPhone. Ever practical, I cart the speaker along with my laptop so that he can share the music on my phone when we're at the office. Not only was this speaker dock an excellent gift choice, it is a gift that we can enjoy together. This year, he got me (ahem, again) a portable media player. It's got a 1TB drive in it and came with all the hardware necessary to hook it up to the television once it's got all my stuff on it. So now, instead of carrying around gazillions of DVD cases, I can copy them to the drive, hook it up to the TV, and have my own version of video on demand. How amazing is that?! And just imagine how many documentaries this sucker will hold!

My gift arrived yesterday, and I can hardly wait to start playing around with it. First, though, I have to get all the grading done and final grades turned in. Then it will be, watch out world -- she scores big time!

See the other Wordless Wednesday entries here.

This is my first time playing Heads or Tails, so I hope I've done everything correctly! I've chosen TAILS - "Rhymes with Ball." You can play along here.



I'm about 3 years old in this photo and have two of my most favorite things in the world with me: my rocking chair and my red-headed DOLL. I carried that doll with me everywhere, all the time. When she got to looking really ratty, my dad threw her away, figuring that I had plenty of others for substitutes. What does a dad know about the bond between a girl and her doll?! I still haven't forgiven him and remind him of this horrible event at every opportunity!

This is my first time participating in Musical Monday, and I have to admit that I decided to join along because of the theme for this week. Music moves us in many ways: it can move us to tears; it can get us to move our feet as we dance along; it can move us to make changes in our lives or society. When I first thought about what moves me in terms of music, I couldn't make a single choice because music moves me in so many ways. So, without further ado, here are my choices based on the three ways that music moves me.

Music that moves me to tears:






Music that makes me move my feet:






Music that moves me to make changes:





To join in the fun or to see other entries, just click the logo at the top of the page.

I was lucky enough to have shared the first 17 years of my life with the most amazing woman I have ever known -- my mom. My mom enjoyed all kinds of music, and one of my earliest memories is of her singing "Sugartime" by the Maguire Sisters to me. It's interesting how many of the memories of my mother involve music somehow.

My mom was absolutely crazy for Tom Jones. The first weekend my parents had away from me and my sisters was when my dad took her to Las Vegas to see the Welsh version of Elvis. Seeing Tom Jones in person only further cemented her adoration of him and his sexiness. Mom would put an album on the record player and twirl around the living room, while lip syncing every song.

She was only 37 when she died of massive internal bleeding caused by the Mallory Weiss Syndrome. So in honor of Mother's Day, I've chosen to share my mother's favorite song by her favorite singer because the image of her singing and dancing around the house to it is my favorite memory of her.





Lyrics
I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window
I saw the flickering shadows of love on her blind
She was my woman
As she deceived me I watched and went out of my mind
My, my, my, Delilah
Why, why, why, Delilah
I could see that girl was no good for me
But I was lost like a slave that no man could free

At break of day when that man drove away, I was waiting
I crossed the street to her house and she opened the door
She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more
My, my, my Delilah
Why, why, why Delilah
So before they come to break down the door
Forgive me Delilah I just couldnt take any more

She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more
My, my, my, Delilah
Why, why, why, Delilah
So before they come to break down the door
Forgive me Delilah I just couldn't take any more
Forgive me Delilah I just couldn't take any more

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be DELETED without prejudice.